By Mary M. RallCommunity Covenant Church

Head usher Larry Weeks put down the offering basket and picked up a hammer as a member of a con-struction mission team from Commu-nity Covenant Church that served the KICY radio ministry in Nome May 14-17.

The three-man team also in-cluded fellow Eagle River residents Brad Bistodeau and Rick Fagan, who Weeks said aided in the construction of a triplex owned by KICY.

“We got all the insulation in ex-cept the attic stuff, which was kind of dangerous,” Weeks said, adding the team also put up a significant amount of plastic sheeting used for waterproofing on the 4,000-square-foot structure.

“For just the three of us, we did quite a bit,” he said.

This was the second summer in a row Weeks and Bistodeau have trav-eled to Nome in support of the con-struction project, which Weeks said

Covenant CallingThe Community

June 2015 www.communitycovenant.netPursing Christ and His priorities in the world

Wired for service

Larry Weeks installs insulation into a tri-plex owned by KICY during a mission trip to Nome May 14-17.

Photo courtesy of Brad Bistodeau

See Radio - Page 8

has come a long way in a year.“It was just a basic frame…and

part of the roof was done,” he said

of the state of the structure in 2014. “We put on all the windows, a few of the interior walls and the Fasia board that goes around the outside.”

The building is now close to be-ing finished, though, and Weeks esti-mates it’ll be well on its way to being

Airline employee provides creative aidAlaska Airlines

Heidi Porter, a customer service agent with Alaska Airlines, is put-ting her creativity and ingenuity to great use.

Heidi and her husband, Tim Por-ter, have been repairing shipping pallets, decorating them and resell-ing them to benefit Nana’s House, a children’s home that provides a safe, happy and healthy home for dis-placed children in Tepic, Mexico.

Heidi and Tim became involved with Nana’s House when they visited

Heidi Porter has been inspired to use ex-cess pallets for a creative fundraising en-deavor in support of Nana’s House.

Photo courtesy of Heidi Porter

the children’s home on a mission trip in February.

“Seeing and interacting with the kids ignited a passion in us to find ways of raising money for them,” Hei-di said.

With the painted pallets, Heidi and other members of Community Covenant Church are helping Nana’s House raise funds to purchase land to build a better facility.

Heidi was able to get some of the pallets from the Anchorage Cargo warehouse. After Heidi explained the

See Pallet - Page 3

2 The Covenant Calling June 2015

Lead Pastor Todd Michero

todd@communitycovenant.net

Communications and Connections Director

Mary M. Rall mary@communitycovenant.net

16123 Artillery Road Eagle River, Alaska 99577

(907) 696-5229@CCCEagleRiver

By Mary M. RallCommunity Covenant Church

There’re eight people serving among the congregation of Commu-nity Covenant Church whose activi-ties may be mysterious to some.

They meet monthly during the dark of night, unless it’s a summer of evening, and discuss matters of sig-nificance for the church around long, plastic tables.

Sometimes, there’re cookies. They are the few, the humble,

the Leadership Team.Comprised of team Chair Larry

Wood, Vice-chair Kym Van Arsdale, Treasurer Curt Lindner, Secretary Sarah Pace and members Kevin Halvorsen, Kim Cannamore, Megan Lang and Brian Heagy, the Leader-ship Team helps meet the spiritual needs of the congregation and the business affairs of the church.

“The most important observa-tion about the church is that it’s not a building. It’s a group of people who have come together to share com-munion and love and devotion to the Lord,” Wood said, noting there are legal, business and operational aspects of CCC’s building the team often addresses as well.

Leadership Team demystified

Kym Van Arsdale Megan LangBrian HeagyKevin HalvorsenKim Cannamore

Larry WoodSarah PaceCurt Lindner

“All those systems require someone to be involved and to see that we have not only this import-ant spiritual aspect of being taken care of, but we also have a facili-ty that people feel comfortable in, that’s welcoming, that the lights are always on,” he said.

Lang said the Leadership Team addresses matters as they apply to the life of the church and what the congregation’s needs may be at any given time.

“As the landscape changes a little bit, I think that’s one of the benefits of the Leadership Team is that it can be a little bit flexible,” she said. “It’s just another group of people besides the staff that are taking care of the day-to-day stuff.”

The team works cooperative-ly with CCC’s pastors and staff to meet a variety of different needs

within the church, and Wood said the team members have Nominat-ing; Pastoral Relations; Human Re-lations; and Policies and Insurance sub-committees they serve on as well to help address more specific minis-try needs.

“The Leadership Team concept has evolved over the years through a model the Covenant Church has developed as a way we provide lead-ership without getting in the way of the work that’s being done on the ground,” he said. “The idea is to get people to step up and get involved in ministry, support them and encour-age them. God’s going to provide the leading, and we’re there to empower, not to interfere.”

All team members also act as li-aisons for areas of ministry as well, Lang said, to help the team better

See Team - Page 7

By Nathaniel SwanbergCommunity Covenant Church

The church high school and mid-dle school youth groups have been supporting a young girl named Bren-da Choque from Bolivia for about a year through Compassion Interna-tional.

Brenda turned 11 in January and is in the fifth grade. She lives with her aunt in a community called Ki-

June 2015 The Covenant Calling 3

Name: Stacy Pickens

Age: 36 Spouse’s name: Marshall Pickens

Number of children: Two

City of residence: Eagle River

What brought you to Alas-ka?: A teaching job

What did you want to do when you grew up? I grew up going to SeaWorld, so I wanted to be a marine biologist.

What song would be on the soundtrack of your life?: “Boondocks” by Little Big Town

Who would you choose to be your mentor?: The apostle Pe-ter–I admire his passion, and I could see myself becoming a bet-ter teacher and leader through his mentorship.

What would you change your first name to?: Sam

What would you like to learn to do?: Play the guitar

What’s something most peo-ple don’t know about you?: I dislike trains. They creep me out.

Teens support Compassion International, Bolivian child

lometer 12 on the main road to Co-chabamba. Santa Cruz is the closest nearby city, about 7-and-a-half miles to the west.

In her first letter to the youth group, Brenda told us a little bit about herself. She said her favorite food is spicy chicken noodle soup, her favorite fruits are apples and grapes and her favorite color is red. She said she enjoys playing basketball and volleyball, and she likes math and music.

Her latest letter let us know she recently became a Christian. Brenda also shared that she goes to school at the Rios de Agua Viva Student Cen-ter near her house.

We recently sent her a letter tell-ing her about ourselves and a little about Alaska as well. Brenda’s let-ters are posted on the board behind the counter in the Student Ministries Room for anyone who wants to read them.

So far, the youth group has com-pletely funded Brenda every month since we began sponsoring her. By doing so, we help her attend school and learn about God and his love for her. Each month, the total we need to raise is $38. This is one of the ways the youth group is becoming more healthy and missional alongside the church.

The middle and high school youth groups donate $38 per month through Compas-sion International in support of Brenda, an 11-year-old Bolivian girl.

Photo courtesy of Nathaniel Swanberg

cause to Anchorage Cargo General Manager Jeff Olver, he let her look through the excess pallet boards they had stacked in the back of the ware-house.

This turned out to be beneficial because “it raised money for a great purpose and helps us with our pallet recycling, which is a constant battle,” Olver said.

Kudos to Heidi for doing this great work for people in need.

For more information on the pal-lets and how to purchase one, email porterco5@hotmail.com.

From Pallet - Page 1

Heidi and Tim Porter recycle pallets by painting them and selling them to raise funds in support of Nana’s House, a chil-dren’s home for displaced youth in Tepic, Mexico.

Photo courtesy of Heidi Porter

4 The Covenant Calling June 2015

Jason Sanders and the Schmitt family were just a few of more than 20 volunteers from Community Cov-enant who helped place flags at about 5,000 headstones May 24 in preparation for Memorial Day at Fort Richardson National Cemetery on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

High schoolers Tyler Foster and Daniel Casey play with children during a mission trip to Elim May 29.

Photo courtesy of Tyler Foster

(Left) Shelby Chandlar hugs former Middle School Director Becca Loritz at Loritz’s farewell youth group meeting May 31. (Above) Janell Heagy leads students in prayer over Loritz, who has moved on from Community Covenant to marry former CCC Youth Pastor Jeff Keyser in August.

Photo by Mary M. Rall/Community Covenant ChurchPastor Tyler Shaw, Nathaniel Swanberg, Tessa Heagy and Malia Barto share a laugh as members of the congregation attempt to identify the high schoolers’ mothers from old photographs May 10 during the Mother’s Day worship service.

Photos by Mary M. Rall/Community Covenant Church

June 2015 The Covenant Calling 5

Pastor Todd Michero with Community Covenant Church and Pastor Dan Krause with Chugach Covenant Church lay a wreath to honor service members who died in service to the nation at a Memorial Day ceremony May 25 at Fort Richardson National Cemetery on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Photo by Mary M. Rall/Community Covenant Church

Rancho La Fuente church celebrated its first service in Las Varas, Mexico, May 17. Pastor Todd and Lori Michero, Kristen and Tyler Akers, Tim and Heidi Porter, Janell Heagy, Mary Rall and the father and daughter team of Brad and Madelyn Bistodeau helped with the church’s construction Feb. 24 during a mission trip to the area.

Photo courtesy of Tony Simon/La Fuente MinistriesJosiah Alverts, David Ham and Jordan Porter portray comically outraged craftsmen in the readers theater portion of the May 31 worship service, which focused on The Riot in Ephesus from Acts 19.

Photo by Mary M. Rall/Community Covenant Church

Jason Sanders and the Schmitt family were just a few of more than 20 volunteers from Community Cov-enant who helped place flags at about 5,000 headstones May 24 in preparation for Memorial Day at Fort Richardson National Cemetery on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Photo by Mary M. Rall/Community Covenant Church

More than 75 middle schoolers swam, grogged, ate and eventually slept their way through an overnighter May 16. Photo courtesy of Becca Loritz/Community Covenant Church

6 The Covenant Calling June 2015

Not your average SundayBy Mary M. RallCommunity Covenant Church

Community Covenant Church celebrated its youth May 17 at Confir-mation Sunday, when about 30 mid-dle schoolers were recognized for their progress through or graduation from Confirmation.

The nine-month Confirmation program was reintroduced this school year following a several-year absence of the curriculum from the youth ministry program, said former Mid-dle School Director Rebecca Loritz.

She said she expected a handful of middle schoolers to attend Con-firmation the first year, but was amazed when more than 40 students in sixth through eighth grade initial-ly expressed interest in participating in September.

“That just affirmed for us that’s what God wanted,” she said.

The students were broken down into two groups, with the sixth and seventh graders focusing on the first

David Wille congratulates 14-year-old Kiya Gates on graduating from Confirmation at Confirmation Sunday May 17.

Photos by Mary M. Rall/Community Covenant Church

part of a two-year Confirmation pro-gram taught by Tamara Tanner and the eighth graders completing a con-solidated one-year program taught by David Wille, Loritz said.

“The sixth and seventh grades focused on the Old Testament, while the eighth graders focused on the New Testament, the new covenant established by Jesus and the forma-tion of the church,” Wille said.

Wille transitioned from working with the high schoolers last school year to teaching Confirmation Sun-day evenings following middle school youth group this year, an opportunity he said he was grateful to take.

“There’s nothing more import-ant than helping someone learn and grow and then follow the way Jesus taught,” Wille said. “He came so we could have life, true life, and have it to the fullest extent meant for us by God. What could be better than help-ing someone get a sense of what God has planned for them?”

He said that wasn’t a hard under-

taking, as there were plenty of oppor-tunities to share the good news with the students and to teach the founda-tions God laid through scripture.

“The main intent of confirmation is for the students to get a solid un-derstanding of where our faith comes from, the foundational beliefs of our church, how the church was formed and begin practicing its ways, such as devotional study, reflection, prayer and acts of service in order to grow one’s faith,” Wille said. “We want to help them go from being spoon-fed to learning how to feed themselves.”

Eighth grader Kiya Gates said she chose to attend Confirmation to gain a stronger understanding of her faith, which the study definitely helped her achieve.

“The Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed, I had no idea what they were,” Gates said, explaining they dug deeper into everything from the meaning of the creeds to understand-ing the significance of communion. “I kind of get it now, and it makes more sense.”

Participation in Confirmation re-quired genuine effort on both the stu-dents’ and the teachers’ part, Wille said, noting the middle schoolers had daily homework assignments to com-plete, and there were challenges to teaching the curriculum.

“There were some rough spots See Confirm - Page 8

Former Middle School Director Becca Lori-tz baptizes Carlie Bowers May 17. Several teens were baptized for the first time or affirmed their baptism on Confirmation Sunday.

June 2015 The Covenant Calling 7

understand what’s happening with-in CCC’s many ministries and to determine if there’re greater needs that exist that the team may be able to help meet.

“That way we can make better decisions,” she said, explaining the Leadership Team wants to help min-istries to continue to move forward, rather than attempt to micromanage them.

“We’ll be involved with broader policy discussions of what type of ministries we are going to have and what new ministry teams are going to look like,” Wood affirmed. “The ministry teams and the ministry team leaders have to be empowered under the senior pastor and his staff to go out and do ministry. So, we don’t want to get in the way of that.”

According to Lang, team mem-bers serve on the team for two years and can serve up to two consecutive terms, for a total of four years. Lang is currently the Care Ministry liai-son and on the Human Relations Committee and has been serving on the team for less than a year.

“I like organization,” Lang said with a laugh when asked why she joined the team. “I have a degree in communications, and I like small groups. I like small group processes. I like to think on ideas and princi-ples. I think that’s just one of the ways that God’s created me, and so when there’s an opportunity to serve, I’m kind of drawn to those types of opportunities.”

Wood said team members do have to go through a nomination process to be on the team, but any member of CCC is encouraged to ex-press their interest in participating.

“If there are people who’re feel-ing led to get involved in lay leader-ship, all they need to do is contact myself or someone on our staff,” he said. “The Nominating Committee goes to work in the springtime, be-cause we normally have vacancies once a year.”

Wood serves on the Nominating Committee and as the Children’s Ministry liaison and is nearing the end of his second term on the Lead-

From Team - Page 2 ership Team. He said the experience of being on the team has helped him learn more about the Covenant de-nomination, as well as the many ministries at Community Covenant.

“I would really encourage people to get involved in lay leadership for that reason too, because you get to see the type of talent God’s brought into one place, be they lay leaders or pastoral leaders, and all the people who make our church life happen,” Wood said.

The semi-annual meeting will be June 14 and will present an op-portunity for people to remain in-formed on the decisions the Leader-ship Team is making as well, Wood said, and will give church members

a chance to vote for new Leadership Team members.

“These are other opportunities to see and hear from the Leadership Team and the pastors and find out not only some of the business and financial affairs of the church, but more importantly, our ministries and what God has been doing and some of the stories about them,” he said. “Even if they’re not members, we strongly, strongly encourage them to come to those meetings and ask questions and find out how they can get plugged in.”

For more information on how to become involved with the Leader-ship Team, email Larry Wood at ld-wood1225@gci.net.

Register with discount code “GLS15HOST” at www.communitycovenant.net.

8 The Covenant Calling June 2015

rented by KICY to help offset the costs of running the station in just a couple of months.

“Their electricity bill is extreme-ly high, so this triplex will help offset that,” he said. “It will help keep the radio station going.”

Keeping the Evangelical Cove-nant Church non-profit radio station

running may be vital to allowing God’s message to reach more than 40 Native Alaskan villages throughout Western Alaska, as well communities in the Russian Far East.

“As long as we keep the radio station on the air in today’s unset-tled world, it’s a light,” Weeks said. “That’s the way I feel. It’s a light in the darkness.”

Mission teams from throughout the country have assisted in the tri-plex project, and Weeks recognizes he was just one of many people to help keep the 50,000-watt outreach the station has been providing from Northwestern Alaska going since it began in 1960.

“I feel like I’m part of God’s work—just a little piece,” he said with a laugh. “Just one of the many ants in the anthill.”

The retired firefighter also chuck-led at the notion of being handy, and said making a difference on a short-term mission project is more about attitude than skill.

From Radio - Page 1 “I’m not a professional, but I guess I’m an amateur at everything,” he said. “You have to have the moti-vation to believe what you’re working for is going to serve a good purpose. If you have that, then you can get things done.”

Likewise, Weeks said mission team members have to accept they may never see the long-term impacts of their work, especially when there’s often no way to know who’s receiving the message the station is broadcast-ing.

“They have to realize what they’re going up there for, what the mission is,” he said. “You may not see results right away, but God works different-ly. His ways aren’t our ways, but the end result is to get the message out and to help people.”

The ministry broadcasts 24 hours a day at KICY AM-850 and ICY 100.3 FM. More information on the station’s outreach and live audio streaming of its broadcasts are also available on-line at www.kicy.org.

Larry Weeks, Brad Bistodeau and Rick Fa-gan traveled to Nome May 14-17 in support of a construction mission trip. The team worked on a triplex owned by KICY that’s anticipated to be completed in the next couple of months.

Photo courtesy of Larry Weeks

and some discouraging times when I thought, ‘They don’t get it, or they’re missing it.’ There were a bunch of times I thought, ‘This lesson or this activity is going to be great,’ and then it didn’t work out,” Wille said. “But I learned to keep at it, to not quit, even when discouraged, and to keep following the inspirations God gives.”

Gates said she found the dedica-tion the homework required reward-ing, though, and it helped her main-tain some long-term habits.

“The everyday Bible study was a really good help,” she said, adding it encouraged her to think more about the content of what she was reading and to continue studying the Bible.

“I’m using a devotional now and am trying to use it every day to keep up with devotions so I can stay strong in Christ,” Gates said.

Wille added he could truly see the Holy Spirit work in the class, which was reflected in the students’ responses to the curriculum, as well as how he was led to teach them.

From Confirm - Page 6 “They asked hard questions that came from the heart that I couldn’t answer very well,” he said, “but with the help of the Holy Spir-it, some answers came out beauti-fully and seemed to actually make a connection.”

Wille said he was thankful for moments like the baptisms and af-firmations of bap-tism at CCC, as well as the hike up Mount Baldy the eighth grade Confirmation students participated in with the high school-ers the afternoon of Confirmation Sunday.

“It was such a great reward to see them confirmed, to see them choose to be baptized and affirm their faith. They were shown the way, and they took it,” Wille said, expressing he

Community Covenant high schoolers supported and encour-aged middle schoolers who will be moving up to the senior high school youth group next year by hiking and having devotional time with them on Mount Baldy May 17 as part of the Confirma-tion Sunday activities.

Photo courtesy of Becca Loritz/Community Covenant Church

was grateful to be present for the hike as well.

“They talked about where they were in their faith, shared verses that mean something to them and why they were meaningful,” he said. “That whole day was beautiful. I felt joy watching them. It couldn’t have worked out any better, and I thank God for that.”